The Stuarts

1685

JAMES II

1661

CHARLES II

The Stuarts

JAMES I

1603

CHARLES I

1625

• Peace treaty with Spain
• 1604, Hampton Court: representatives of the bishops and Puritans*; Catholics excluded
• Guy Fawkes organised the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament on 5th November 1605 --> the cospiracy was found out and the plotters executed
• No persecution BUT public celebration at the failure of the plot (Bonfire Night, annual event)
• Uniformity with the Church of England corresponded to security of the State, dissent treated as treason
• Emigration to the New World (1620 Pilgrim Fathers, Mayflower, Plymouth)

Gunpowder Plot

• Mary, Queen of Scots' son
• Protestant; black magic
• Ignored Parliament; divine right of the King
• GB, Union Jack and common coinage
• Well-educated, "The King's Men"

JAMES I

• He raised an army of Royalists and declared war
• The King's opponents prepared to fight back -> CIVIL WAR

SO

BUT

• James I's son; fond of art, patronised many painters (Rubens)
• Married the Catholic daughter of the King of France
• Ignored Parliament and ruled 11 years without it
• PETITION OF RIGHT (1628) -> the king couldn't impose taxes or imprison without trial without the consent of the Commons
• The King soon dismissed the Petition
• Parliament denied him money to suppress a rebellion in Scotland -> Short Parliament was summoned -> Long Parliament (= one of the greatest institutions of E history as it mirrored the change society underwent under the Tudors. This new middle class of small landowners and city merchants who demanded that he submit to Parliament)

• In 1642 the king entered the House of Commons to arrest extreme MPs
• The had already escaped

CHARLES I

CROMWELL DIED

• Rump voted to end the Protectorate and in 1660

monarchy was restored with Charles II

• Puritan rules were introduced: execution for adultery, abolition of popular pastimes, annual celebration replaced

• abolished monarchy and declared a REPUBLIC, THE COMMONWEALTH
• abolished the House of Lords; introduced censorship
• Cromwell declared himself "LORD PROTECTOR OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND"

- Wales,Cornwall and eastern England - Long hair - Charles I's supporters - Mainly gentry

- Middle-class men; Parliam - London, sea ports and eastern England - P had more money than the King and controlled the navy - NEW MODEL ARMY (professional soldiers) - Commanded by Oliver Cromwell

ROYALISTS

Parliamentarians

• 1642-1649 -> bloody battles between the Parliamentarians (or Roundheads) and the Royalists (or Cavaliers)
• in 1648 Charles was captured, tried for treason and executed
• Long Parliament was purged of Royalist supporters
• The remaining 121 radicals formed the so-called RUMP PARLIAMENT

THE CIVIL WAR AND THE COMMONWEALTH

• In 1670 -> Treaty of Dover (France) - secret agreement - Catholicism - James II

CHARLES II

1660-1760

TWO KEY EVENTS

• Charles II came back to Britain; French tastes; admirer of the Sun King
• Court devoted to pleasure: theatres and taverns reopened, gossip and fashion replaced religous debate
• Rejection of strict morality and interest in the real, present world
• In 1662 he patronised the Royal Society (scientists and intellectuals)
• Corporation Act -> excluded dissenters from public offices
• Act of Uniformity -> imposed the use of the Book of Common Prayer
• Test Act -> required all employees to conform to the Church of England

• In 1665: THE GREAT PLAGUE (outbreak of bubonic plague)
• In 1666: THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON -> Sir Christopher Wren was asked to rebuilt the City, St Paul Cathedral was his masterpiece

THE RESTORATION and THE AUGUSTAN AGE

• He began to give power to the Catholics
• His second wife was CAtholic and produced a male heir
• The Two political parties were alarmed as they wanted to avoid another civil war

• BILL OF RIGHT -> re-enacted rights stated by Magna Carta and the Petition of Right and established that the king could levy taxes, raise an army and suspend laws ONLY with parliamentary consent; Triennial Act
• TOLERATION ACT -> granted freedom of worship to dissenting Protestants (no Catholics -> 1701 ACT OF SETTLEMENT -> QUEEN ANNE)

SO

• They negotiated with William of Orange whose Protestant wife Mary was next to the throne (James II's daughter)
• in 1688 William of Orange marched on England
• in 1689 William and Mary became joint monarchs at the request of Parliament
• Glorious Revolution AS the monarchs had been chosen by Parliament and not by divine right
• In 1689 acts were passed and paved the way to constitutional monarchy:

JAMES II and THE JOINT MONARCHS

• Popular Queen, proudly English and Anglican
• 1707 -> ACT OF UNION -> 1 Parliament in Westeminster for England, Scotland and Wales

FOREIGN POLICY

• 1713, TREATY OF UTRECHT -> gave England The French possessions in Canada and the monopoly of the slave trade with Spanish America -> The British Empire was being created

QUEEN ANNE

• After Queen Anne's death, George I of Hanover ascended the throne
• He inherited two kingdoms and 12 colonies
• George spoke very little English and stayed mostly in Hanover
• In his place, the country was ruled by a council of ministers
• Robert Walpole (Whig) --> commonly regarded as England's fist Prime Minister (Downing Street): antiwar government, oppose military expenses, trade, reduce taxes

• George died and his son George II succeeded him
• Spanish pirates were damaging British trade
• Walpole tried to negotiate with Spain bur war broke out in 1739
• Walpole was forced to resign and in 1756 William Pitt (the elder) became Prime Minister (mercantilism)
• 1756 war broke out -> Seven Years' War (1756-1763): world war
• 3 continents (North America, Europe, India)
• struggle for global primacy (FR vs GB) -> Britain won

HANOVERIANS